bye-bye. captioned by closed captioning services, inc >> bret: we're hours away from the biggest day in the presidential campaign so far. we stalk super tuesday from cincinnati, ohio. this is "special report." ♪ ♪ >> bret: good evening. i'm bret baier. we're coming to you live from historic terminal in cincinnati, ohio. we'll have extensive coverage of what is going on in the crucial super tuesday state, as well as the other nine states that are part of tomorrow's important election. but we begin tonight with the potentially explosive situation involving the u.s., israel and iran. today, president obama met with israel's prime minister. pairing that has not always gone smoothly. chief white house correspondent ed henry shows us what happened today. >> the relationship has been rocky. but at the start of two intense hours in the oval office with israeli prime

minister benjamin netanyahu, president obama said the bond is unbreakable. top u.s. officials are paying great pains in private to say they have a healthy relationship. as the president insisted he will have israel's back. >> my policy is prevention of iran obtaining nuclear weapons. when i say all options are on the table i mean it. >> reporter: what is remarkable, president still has to convince netanyahu he means it. despite over three years of close consultation. senior u.s. officials flat out admit the point of the speech understood in apec in part was to reassure netanyahu about the president's seriousness of purpose. >> iran's leaders should have no doubt about the resolve of the united states. as they should not doubt the sovereign right to make their own decisions. >> reporter: the last part was jumped on by netanyahu saying israel should be the master of its own fight. all but suggesting he has

unilateral green light for launch. >> israel has the right, sovereign right to make its own decisions. >> reporter: the senior u.s. officials insist all the president was saying is he respect's israel right to make its own decision. the white house believes it would take iran up to a year to build a nuclear weapon. providing a win deof time for sanctions to work. >> both the prime minister and i prefer to resolve this diplomatically. >> there was daylight between them. netanyahu never said he preferred the diplomatic rout route. the president looked uncomfortable as the prime minister seemed to be bringing the allies together. >> to them, you're the great satan. we are the little satan. for them, we are you and you are us. you know something, mr. president, at least on this last point, i think they're right. we are you and you are us. we are together. >> reporter: today the white house announced a presidential news conference tomorrow afternoon that had the dual

value of allowing the president to not take questions today in the oval office with the prime minister and allow them to try to step on super tuesday tomorrow. bret? >> bret: ed henry, live in the north lawn. thank you. now to the reason we're here in cincinnati tonight. ohio is seen be many as the crown jewel of super use. ten states will hold primary or caucuses tomorrow. they represent a cross section of the country. account 419 delegates at stake. chief political correspondent carl cameron starts our coverage tonight. >> reporter: on the eve of super tuesday, mitt romney has digit-digit lead in the national polls and bellwether of ohio he recounts his business experience over his rivals. >> other people in this race debated about the economy, they read about the economy, they talked about it in sub committee meetings but i have been in it. i have worked in business. >> it has romney up 11 points

over santorum nationally. for the first time in months he has clear average in ohio polls, too. romney is up over santorum. virtual tie in margin of error. but that is a step-point shift to romney in the last week. santorum's lead among self-described ohio conservative is a 35-33 tossup. it's a virtual tie among men. romney is up nine points among women. romney is running strongest in northern and central ohio around cleveland and columbus. of the other super tuesday state, romney has leads in massachusetts, vermont, virginia and idaho. in ohio, santorum is strongest in the southwest, near the indiana and kentucky border and southeast near pennsylvania. he is ineligible for 18 of ohio 66 nominating delegates because of filing problems. he is running strong in tennessee, and is heavily favored in oklahoma. slams romney as a moderate who

contends to be conservative. >> one of the basic issues in the campaign is trust. can you trust someone when they say they will be a strong principled conservative? >> gingrich ignored ohio and other super tuesday states to focus on georgia. he hopes to force himself back to headlines and contention. >> i challenge other candidates to join me in mississippi or alabama for a debate next week. i don't think mitt romney can just hide behind millions of dollars of paid ads. >> ron paul's best bet is north dakota. paul was the only candidate to visit alaska and made stops today in idaho. back in ohio, where the secretary of state doesn't like to make turn-out predictions and going back to 1992, the average has been 2.5 musli2.5 million voters for the primary. tonight, the tv are filled with attack ads and the phones are ringing off the hook with robo calls. it ends in 24 hours when the polls close. bret? >> bret: carl cameron live

in gainesville. thank you. we have been busy in ohio. we have been in columbus, martin's ferry, athens, jackson, several stops here in and around cincinnati. we will take you along for our ride across the state throughout this program. of course, there has been plenty said on the campaign trail about president obama's policy for religious based employers to provide contraceptive coverage even if it's against their faith. chief washington correspondent james rosen tells us there is more high-level pressure today from the church. >> visiting a catholic prep school in new rochelle, new york's cardinal timothy dolan called on president obama to exempt catholic affiliated institution from the administration recent mandate on female contraception. >> we keep insisting on religious freedom and hope it will be worked out. >> they announced that the employers must provide female contraception with insurers picking up the tabs.

>> most of us are self-insured so when you pass on the expenses to tin surer, guess who is still paying? >> on sunday, the chair of the democratic party accused republican lawmakers waging war on women. >> they want to say they should decide what access -- >> the white house announced on saturday it had reached out to barnard college, the women school affiliated with columbia university, mr. obama's alma mater to offer him as a commencement speaker. to accept the offer they bumped jill abe rrrason. >> it's hard to believe that that many people who voted for obama will switch their vote on this issue. >> sandra fluke, whose activism left rush limbaugh to brand her a slut and prostitute, refused to accept the apology of limbaugh posted online on saturday. >> especially when the statement is issued when he is under significant pressure from his sponsors who have

become to pull their support. >> today, limbaugh said he never believed fluke to be slut or prostitute and the apology was heart-felt. >> it was simply for using inappropriate words in a way i never do. in so doing, i became like the people we oppose. i ended up descending to their level. >> late today, fluke tweeted her thanks to house minority leader nancy pelosi who phoned the student activist to express concern and support. bret? >> bret: james, thank you. we will take you to another big super tuesday state, tennessee, later. up next, the election is over in russia. living with the results is another story. this is easton town center. if you know columbus, ohio, you know easton town center. if you like to shop or eat, you will probably find it here. columbus is the state capital

and the largest city in ohio. it's a growing area. neap the suburbs. you have ohio state university and financial sector. a conservative bloc of voters but most people, most republicans will tell you they are moderate suburbanites. in franklin county, part of the four county metro area, this is the largest cache of votes for john mccain's victory in 2008. this is a swing area for the general election, which is why since he has been president, president obama has had ten events in columbus, ohio. we'll be right back after thi this. their claim service is so good, noit's guaranteed. [ foreman ] so i can trust 'em. unlike rdy. dolr for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. immerse yourself in all over relief with alka seltzer plus. it's specially formulated to speed relief to every inch of you. liquidate your flu symptoms

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john mccain is calling for action. >> the united nations should lead an international evident -- the united states should lead national effort to keep population center in syria, especially in the north through airstrike on assad's forces. >> bret: u.s. officials are congratulating the russian people for turning out in big numbers for sunday's presidential election. u.s., however, did not congratulate vladimir putin on being elected. then senior foreign affairs correspondent amy kellogg report many in russia share that sentment. >> reporter: after declaring people with occupy the square and street of moscow, anticorruption blogger and fire brand opposition leader was arrested as anti-putin protesters clashed with police tonight. the night before, prime minister and now president-elect vladimir putin teared up as he made his victory speech. tears he later blamed on the cold wind. but there was no softness in his words.

>> translator: we have demonstrated that nobody can impose anything on us. >> reporter: this election offered little suspense, but much fight. activists who had written "thief" on their backs ripped off their shirt and tried to steal the ballot box that putin cast his vote in. through conspiracy, the government installed web cams in all polling stations. the vote from this location were disqualified. still, international observers were critical. >> according to our assessmen assessment, these elections were unfair despite innovation. >> it's not clear how the domestic situation will play itself out in the coming days or the new term. but also unclear and great intest internationally how will u.s. -russia relations look under putin presidency part three? russia and u.s. have been at odds over how to deal with syria and iran. putin blamed the west for inspiring russia protest

movement. >> i think he was truly afraid of being the target of the united states of america. >> the road to resetting relations again with america could be long and bumpy. in moscow, amy kellogg, fox news. >> bret: back in this country, the obama administration mounted its first real public defense of its policy of so-called targeted executions. involving american citizens. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge joins us from washington with what we learned today. good evening. >> thank you. not laying out the intelligence that led to the drone strike killing anwar al-awlaki. the first american on the kill-or-capture list linked to the massacre, eric holder told law students at the northwestern university today, three criteria must be met. the individual possesses immediate threat of violence against the u.s., capture is not feasible and the operation can be done consistent with the laws of war.

>> for reasons i have given, u.s. government use of lethal force and self-defense against leader of al-qaeda or associated force who presents an imminent threat and violent attack would not be unlawful. therefore, would not violate the executive order banning assassination or criminal statutes. >> the attorney general argued the use of drones against terrorists overseas including americans is legal under the 2001 congressional authorization of the u.s. of military force. holder said the u.s. citizenship is not a shield. the president does not need permission from a federal court to act. >> due process and judicial process are not one and the same; particularly, when it comes to national security. the constitution guarantees due process. it does not guarantee judicial process. >> republican presidential candidate ron paul says the actions are inconsistent with the u.s. constitution.

>> to say that under certain circumstances that the president can make this decision on who should be assassinated, i don't see how he can ever get around to justifying that. >> the aclu called again for the administration to release legal memos that justified the killing of a u.s. citizen. adding few things are more dangerous to american liberty than a government that can kill itself own citizens without putting the evidence to a court. >> bret: thank you. still ahead, what latino voters are saying about the presidential campaign. first, the one justice who could swing the supreme court over the president's healthcare law. >> the city of martins ferry in the upper ohio river valley is a lot like the industrialized city farther north of akron and can on the. canton. home to many of the blue collar reagan democrats that rick santorum is openly courting in the primary. it's stocked with socially conservative catholics so

santorum should do well in this region. martins ferry is indicative of the region. it was once a boom town with coal and steel. after decades of hard times and tightening environmental rules and foreign competition, martins ferry is actually half the size it was 50 years ago. farther in the northwest and cleveland mitt romney should do well with cleveland republicans as he did in the upscale suburbs of detroit. here in ohio's northwest industrial region, it should be fur tile ground for rick santorum and maybe newt gingrich. we'll be back after this. oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪

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a gorgeous building. meantime, snow and freezing temperatures are making things even tougher around the country. tougher on survivors from

friday's tornadoes in kentucky and indiana. a blanket of wet snow covered henryville early this morning. 39 people in five states were killed in the tornado outbreak. voters here in ohio have already passed an amendment to the state constitution. rejecting the individual insurance mandate in president obama's healthcare law. the supreme court will take up that very issue in three week weeks. correspondent shannon bream tells us it could come down to one justice. >> reporter: when it comes to the heart of the healthcare case, the individual mandate, most court watchers expect a 5-4 decision. how the numbers fall, though, may not be about the usual swing vote. justice anthony kennedy. instead, the administration is hoping to woo justice antonin scalia using a 2005 opinion in their brief. in that case, scalia wrote under the commerce clause congress had the power to regulate someone who wanted to grow medicinal marijuana in her home and sell it.

government hopes that will bolster the arguemen arguement e commerce cause gives congress the authority to require every american carry health insurance or pay a penalty. >> even if scalia is skeptical of the merits of the healthcare reform law, it will be very hard for him to get away from his own writings on this issue that do support the government. >> reporter: there are plenty of skeptics who doubt that any of the justices considered to be member of the court's so-called conservative wing. justice alito, scalia and thomas, and john roberts will uphold the individual mandate. >> no matter how the administration tries to characterize it this, at the end of the day, you are talking about one of the most sweeping expense of federal power in their history. that is something they have to defend. >> reporter: justice kennedy, he, too, offered opinion favoring the commerce power under the congressional

clause but says just because it's purchased doesn't mean that congress can regulate it. bret? >> bret: thank you, shannon. the dow lost 15 on wall street. s&p 500 off 5. nasdaq dropped 26. no grapevine tonight so we can bring you more super tuesday coverage. up next, another crucial state. tennessee. and what matters to voters in the volunteer state. but first, another stop in ohio. this is hyde park, upscale area outside downtown cincinnati. it's heavily republican. how heavily? well, in the u.s. senate race, rob portman carried this area with more than 62% of the vote. portman endorsed mitt romney. romney should do well in areas like this. by the time we get to tuesday night, how will he does in these areas will determine how well he is doing in ohio. we'll be back after this. now on verizon's 4g lte network.

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>> bret: welcome back to cincinnati, in the pif to super tuesday state of ohio. there are 63 delegates at stake here tomorrow. that is second to georgia's 76. in third, is tennessee. with 55. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is in nashville tonight to tell us about a race that could go down to the wire in the volunteer state. >> reporter: on the eve of the tennessee primary, newt gingrich spent much of the day making a final push in the volunteer state.

>> if with your help tomorrow we move on and i become the nominee, i am going to run an american campaign. [ applause ] >> reporter: the latest polling suggests that the race tightened considerably. rasmussen supports survey of likely g.o.p. voters has santorum leading with 34%. mitt romney, 30%. newt gingrich third and ron paul a distant fourth. real clear average politics of polls in tennessee shows an even tighter race. sources on the ground here says romney has seen a surge of support in eastern tennessee and in knoxville, he recited the lyrics of a theme song with a local flavor. >> no davy crockett. remember the song, born on the mountain top in tennessee, greenest face of the land of free, raised in the woods so he knew every tree and he killed himself a bear when he was only three. davy, davy crockett. remember that? >> reporter: santorum was in memphis sunday and ate some of the famous barbecue. in his visit he longed for a chance to compete one-on-one with romney. >> the race for us, to

ultimately win this race it has to narrow it down to two. i think that will happen eventually. >> reporter: for now it's a four-man race and experts say the volunteer state offers opportunity. >> tennessee matters because romney needs to show he can do reasonably well in southern state. >> experts say figuring out how to win here is a blueprint for elsewhere. it's more than appealing to traditional republicans. >> you have conservative democrats that switched over to the republican party in the last few years and then you have a tea party element in nashville and the suburban area. you to appeal to the broad-base of folks. >> senior republicans not affiliated with any of the campaign says romney has the best organization in tennessee and santorum has the worst. it will be interesting to see if it makes a difference in the tight race. bret? >> bret: mike emanuel live in nashville tonight. thank you. now to the latino vote. our sister news organization fox news latino.com finds a big favorite among latino

republicans. and big problems for the g.o.p. in november. my colleague bill hemmer in new york has more. >> the only one i would think is viable is mitt romney. >> romney, way ahead among likely latino republican voters. that is according to the just released fox news latino poll. 35% prefer romney as the nominee. ron paul runs a distant second in 13%. followed by newt gingrich and rick santorum. turning to november, none of the republicans doing well among all latinos. a group that made up 9% of voters in 2008. >> i'll probably vote on obama again. >> if the election were held today, the poll found president obama would beat governor romney 70 to 14% among latinos. that is pretty much the same for rick santorum, and newt gingrich. in 2004, george w. bush took 44% of the hispanic vote. in 2008, 31% of the hispanics

voted for republican john mccain. this year, even those latino mccain voters favor obama slightly. >> one thing the republican candidates could do is to name a latino to the ticket. one-third said they would consider voting republican if there were a latino running as vice president. >> two latino republicans touted as v.p. material. florida senator marco rubio and new mexico governor susanna martinez. one in five latino voters are more willing to vote republican if martinez were on the ticket. even more, one in four say the republican nominee could win their vote by picking rubio as his v.p. for more on the poll, go to foxnewslatino.com. i'm bill hemmer in new york. >> bret: the obama campaign has reportedly told democratic house and senate members they will not be sharing money this election season. politico reports that congressional re-election

groups had sought $30 million but they have been told essentially they are on their own this year. the white house has just announced a late switch. moving this may's g-8 summit from chicago to camp david. the meeting was supposed to happen ahead of the nato summit there in chicago a couple of days later. the administration officials are said to be dealing with the lo gistal challenges of accommodating the huge number of people involved. statement said the president wanted a more intimate setting. he has never hosted a world leader at camp david. we will talk to local political experts about ohio and super tuesday later. after the break, back to washington. the fox news all-star on president obama, israel, and iran. this is the city of jackson. population about 6,000. this is south central ohio. jackson was established in 1817, named for andrew jackson. a hero of the 1812 war and

eventually the president. when you go through ohio, you get a midwestern feel for much of the state. here in the southern part, you definitely have an appalachian spirit. no surprise on the stump, gingrich refers to andrew jackson frequentenly. not because he is the namesake of the city, but because he is remembered throughout the south and appalachia as a president with a defiant spirit and hos stillty to central -- hostility to centralized power in washington. for many in this area, many evangelical protestants, gingrich's pitch may be selling. as you look at city hall, the memorial building, jaricson is in the mid -- jackson is in the middle of three congressional districts. this may be where newt gingrich has the best chance to pick up delegates out of ohio on tuesday. we'll be right back. well, online dating services can get kind of expensive.

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even as we will continue on the diplomatic front, we

will continue to tighten pressure when it comes to sanctions. i reserve all options. my policy here is not one of containment. my policy is prevention of iran obtaining nuclear weapons. >> israel must have the ability always to defend itself billets, against any threat -- itself by itself against any threat. when it comes to israel's security, israel has the right, the sovereign right to make its own decisions. >> bret: israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu meeting at the white house with president obama today. this coming after president obama addressed an american jewish interest group apec over the week. >> but as you examine my commitment, you don't just have to count on my words, you

can look at my deeds. over the last few years as president of the united states, i have kept my commitment to the state of israel. at every crucial juncture, at every fork in the road, we have been there for israel every single time. >> bret: so let's bring in panel from washington. steve hayes for "weekly standard." a.b. stoddard, associate editor of the hill. and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. steve, your thoughts on the meeting and the speech over the weekend? >> a big meeting. i doesn't get more dramatic and important than this. probably, president obama's most significant bilateral meeting of the presidency. the white house went in, i think, trying to convince prime minister netanyahu of two things. we will know if iran races forward with the breakout capacity and tries to assemble and construct a nuclear weapon and we will go. we will actually take action if this happens.

this is a tough sell. the united states doesn't have a great track record on weapons of mass destruction. the window in the iranian program, if we have one at all doesn't seem to be that great. he is asking netanyahu to trust the united states, trust the president if in fact we do have the information that we'll do. it's asking for a huge risk. it's unlikely that the president will take him up on it. >> bret: a.b.? >> between the state at apec and the comments that he made today, this was the public deck lor ration of what they have been saying in private. the israelries are going to go their own way. they made it clear and i think that president obama made it clear we will give them backup in the case of the counterattack, but they still disagree. they disagree on the regime intention and they disagree on

the timing. the israelis really believe that the time is running out. president obama continues to ask for more time. unless he assures them privately he can do enough covertly, they will go on their own schedule. >> bret: charles, your sense about the meeting at the oval office today. the last meeting the two leaders had, we could read a lot in the demeanor, the tone, and the back story. any thoughts about the meeting and the words said? >> i imagine that this is extremely stressed. he is responsible for safety of the nation and he is not going to defer when israel is facing enemy sworn to its destruction. when obama spoke, we saw earlyer the sound bite we

would pursue diplomacy. what diplomacy? there is no diplomacy with iran on the nuke. right now iranians are indicating they might be open to reopen negotiation as a way to stall until window of opportunity is shut on israelis. obama says yes, we are going to try sanctions. we know sanctions have economic effect. when all of his intelligence agency chiefs were before congress last month, they were asked have any of the sanctions influenced the nuclear program? the answer was a flat no. what is left? promise on nuclear option. obama says trust me. israelis have to trust the existence on that, which is why the real question in the discussion between obama and netanyahu is going to be can the israelis strike? they will strike on their own unless they are giving a hardcore assurance from the

white house that obama would strike if diplomacy doesn't succeed. i'm not sure obama is going to offer that. this the absence of that, they will dechair they have sovereign right to defend themselves. >> bret: there is a sense -- excuse me, charles. there is a sense, growing sense that the israelis are getting to that point. that this meeting was the cap on the iceberg that this is sort of happening. >> we have seen the israelis making the case. in public and strenuously in private about the need to do this. as charles says, the fact that iran is do stennial threat. we -- exso stennial threat. you have seen that this is damaging. you had dempsey, chairman of the joints chief of staff

suggesting this is a bad idea in interview three weeks ago. you have had a constant repetition from the administration figures down talking this. it's in a sense telegraphing what they are trying to do. i just think if you were serious about the conundrum that israel is in, if you really wanted to help them sol tv problem and you -- solve the problem and you did believe diplomacy was possible at this late date you'd make the opposite point. >> bret: a.b., 20 seconds here. all of the candidates on the campaign trail weighed in on this issue. how do you think it plays on the republican side politically? >> great on the republicans to beat up on president obama what he has not done to contain acran and not done to stop the progress. obtaining a nuclear weapon. obviously, should there be a conflict, that will be a harder debate for the republicans to take to the president. >> bret: panel, thank you very much. next up, a panel of local

political experts talk about what to expect here in ohio and throughout super tuesday. i'm a home in a high-risk flood area. it doesn't look risky. i mean, phil, does this look risky to you? nancy? fred? no. well it is. in a high-risk area, there's a 1-in-4 chance homes like us will flood. i'm glad i got flood insurance.

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>> bret: welcome back to cincinnati, ohio. we are here in price hill, a spot for all the politicians to come usually. we thought we'd talk to a local panel of experts. first, ben swann, fox 19 cincinnati, political reporter and anchor. howard wilkieson, columnist with "cincinnati inquirer" since 1982. gene bopreaux, professor of politics, xavier university. thank you for being here. ben, let me start with you. what we're hearing and seeing

on the ground and in the polls it appears that mitt romney is making a bit of a move. is that what you are seeing? >> it appears this way. romney did rounds with local media because he gets his message out to a broader audience. the romney effect here he realizes there are two kind of conservatives in ohio. there is overlap. we are talking about social con seventives ark big bloc -- conservatives a big bloc. and physical conservatives. the knock has been to attack santorum as not being fiscal conservative and it seems to be gain traction. >> bret: we have been bouncing around the state to tell people about different parts. ohio has different demographics when it comes to voters. >> ohio is a microcosm of the country, i believe. and i believe that for many years because of the bill city vote, big urban vote, a huge suburban vote, largely a republican. you have small town, you have rural areas.

which are chocked full of social conservative voters that rick santorum has been trying to appeal to. and the tea party voters that he has been trying to win over. >> bret: how big a deal is it, gene, about rick santorum not being able to get on all of the different congressional districts, to get all of the delegates he would need on election night? >> i think any aspect, where somebody doesn't perform at this level, at the presidential level is a deal, you know, it makes a difference. i think three congressional districts he is not on. he won't carry those votes out first. more importantly, i think people and it's being used against him that i can't, he can't fill out the paperwork to get on the ballot. i think it's a hard thing for him. >> there is a question about three other congressional districts where he filed incomplete delegates slates. and whether or not he is -- there is probably 18 of the 66

delegates that were totally out of play for rick santorum tomorrow. >> the delegate issue, though, not just in ohio, but everywhere. that is the real story here. whether or not we're talking about -- whether or not we're talk about ohio, nevada or maine, issue of delegates is one that a lot of folks may not realize is at play here. this is a race between romney and paul right now for the lead in terms of delegates. santorum much further behind would indicate considering the number of winnings he has had. >> bret: you talk nationally, gene, about how much, you know, we always say all politics is local. but it seems in this race the needle has moved nationally. not only the debate's impact, but advertising nationally. >> right. i think that is the case. for a number of reasons. one, you can look at the weak before and see how a candidate went and that influences the primary of the week. primary of the week. and the second thing is i think the national money that comes in, is a big factor. and pours in to a state like

it has here in the last week or two weeks. gone are the days of going door to door and handling a leaflet to somebody. it's a different game now. >> bret: the mitt romney pulls off a win here in ohio and maybe even tennessee, where he is closing the gap there, what is your sense of where he stands and does it start to coalesce around mitt romney? >> if he does win in ohio tomorrow, and there is every indication now he has pulled aknead the polls in ohio and tennessee is certainly a possibility, he is unquestionably in the driver's seat. santorum will be a wounded candidate. it will be a question of how far he can go and how much money he can raise to keep his campaign going. i think this is critical tomorrow in ohio. and in tennessee. >> bret: you were going to say? >> i was going to say i think what separates the support between the two candidates are

the large measure are the social issues for the santorum group. and the question is how far will they go to the edge before they jump off? you know, and say well, i'm going to stick with my vote for santorum because these are the values that i care about, regardless. or well, we might lose the chance to have the presidency if we don't stay on board? >> there may also be, very quickly, a romney backlash. as a result of the money he is spending in a lot of the states. i have been hearing from conservatives who feel like he is just going from state to state beating up santorum and beating up gingrich. they don't view it as a fair fight. they see it as money, david versus goliath narrative. there could be a backlash from conservatives that say we feel like romney is beating up opponents and not debating the issue there. may be a backlash. >> bret: the results, howard, on tuesday night, also we have to look forward to the general election where ohio is obviously the swing of swing states. >> right.

>> yeah, i think you are absolutely right. there is a little bit of a backlash from some republicans that romney is coming in from state to state to state and carpet bombing whichever candidate is starting to rise to the top. this time it's santorum. i mean he will spend almost $3 million through super pac beating up on rick santorum. and it's having an impact in the polls. but there is some of that resentment. >> bret: last thing, down the row here. the thing that we miss about ohio in the national coverage. gene? >> well, historically i would say it's the door-to-door kind of campaigning that is very hard i think to capture. you know, from a national point of view. the ground game, if you will. and how that plays out. that is why, and i like the aspect of that. you know, i think that really generates a lot more activity. but i think that is dying. >> bret: howard? >> i think the one thing that people seem to miss is that

ohio historically in the general election there has been no republican president, not one, who has won the white house without winning ohio. and this is an absolutely critical state for mitt romney or rick santorum, or whoever takes away the nomination. >> bret: ben? >> in order to be the candidate who wins ohio in the general election you have to be the candidate that people believe in. ohioans not interested in simply beating obama but want a candidate they believe in. >> bret: thank you for your time. thanks to price hill chili for letting us sit here at the bar. we'll be back here right after this. [ male announcer ] when do you take 5-hour energy?

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lights would be a train more than 100 of them every single day coming and going. in the 1930s, this is what it looked like. the train director behind that desk there making the decisions where the trains would go and come from. kind of like the early days of air traffic control without the computers obviously. there are three museums here now very interesting. more than one million visitors every year. you should check it out. finally tonight a tease about our coverage tomorrow super tuesday begins 6:00 p.m. eastern "special report" from new york, america's election headquarters. we will exit poll information. reports from many of the 10 states in play. then stay with megyn kelly and me throughout the evening for all results and analysis. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. from cincinnati, that's it for this "special report," fair, balanced and unafraid. captions by closed captioning services